Humboldt Expected to Get $3.8 Million Grant to Improve Dental Services for Low Income Kids, County Health Department Says
Say WAAAAAAH! Photo: Wikimedia.
From the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services:
The
Humboldt County Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) is
expected to receive a $3.8 million grant to participate in the
statewide Local Dental Pilot Project (LDPP) aimed at improving access
to dental care for income-eligible children.
The
pilot project will focus on children ages 0 to 12 years old who are
at high risk of dental disease by providing case management and
prevention-based services throughout the county. Efforts will be
focused on children who are enrolled in Medi-Cal and children
residing in tribal communities and remote geographic regions of the
county.
The
Department of Health Care Services received 23 proposals from across
the state from entities competing for the $150 million in funding.
Humboldt County was one of 15 communities approved — the only rural
county to receive funding on its own.
Leigh
Pierre-Oetker, oral health consultant for DHHS’s Public Health
branch, said this will be hugely beneficial for the county, and will
help combat the county’s high rate of children with tooth decay.
“There
is a lack of providers who take Denti-Cal,” the dental version of
Medi-Cal, “in Humboldt County which can make it tricky for families
to maintain a consistent regimen with their children to get
preventive dental services,” Pierre-Oetker said. “Add barriers
such as being rurally located, lack of transportation and poverty,
and the challenges become greater.”
DHHS
has partnered with the following agencies on the LDPP: Redwood
Community Action Agency (RCAA), K’ima:w
Dental Clinic, Redwoods Rural Health Center, Open Door Community
Health Centers, California Center for Rural Policy at Humboldt State
University and Humboldt Network of Family Resource Centers (FRC).
“This
is a great opportunity for a rural county to demonstrate what can be
achieved by building upon partnerships and working together to
support oral health for children,” said Public Health Director
Michele Stephens.
Over
the next four years, DHHS and partner agencies will perform outreach,
prevention and education using Women, Infant and Children Well Child
Dental Visits, RCAA’s TOOTH education program in daycares,
preschools and elementary schools, the FRC network and other
community events.